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Workers Online
  Issue No 76 Official Organ of LaborNet 03 November 2000  

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News

Outsource or Perish Says Government

By Dermot Browne

The Federal Government has imposed a $7million penalty on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (AFFA) for failing to meet deadlines over the outsourcing of the department's IT network and corporate service functions according to the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU).

The union claims documents being used in market-testing presentations to Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) staff confirm that government agencies face huge financial penalties for dragging their feet. AQIS are telling staff that the Government's policy of imposing financial penalties on agencies that fail to outsource is a key driver for their decision to market-test.

The documents also confirm that all AQIS functions are to be market-tested and possibly outsourced, a move that has alarmed industry bodies including the Cattle Council of Australia.

Matthew Reynolds, CPSU National President said, "Agencies have a gun at their head - outsource or face budget cuts. Either way, services suffer and the Australian community is worse off.

"Decisions about the outsourcing of government work should be based on a rational and practical consideration of the community's needs, not fear.

"We have seen the results of John Fahey's information technology outsourcing program - massive redundancy pay-outs and promised savings which never appear. Now we are seeing Australia's agricultural and livestock industries threatened by his ideological infatuation with market testing and outsourcing."

The CPSU is calling on the Government to reverse the process and guarantee that quarantine functions will not be outsourced.


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*   Issue 76 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Withering On The Vine
Cooking shows and 'Bugs fucking to Mozart' may become the staple diet on our ABC as news and current affairs face a war of attrition. Quentin Dempster gives Workers Online an insider's view of our endangered national broadcaster .
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*  US Election: Sugar Candy Politics
Like in everything else, Americans like their politics sugar coated. A Nation in denial, they are happier maintaining the fantasy that the world is a fine and dandy place says Michael Gadiel.
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*  US Election: George W. Bushwhacked by Texas Truth Squad
The Texas Truth Squad are a group of Texan union members travelling the US on a crusade to expose the Republican presidential nominee as a corporate rogue who in his time as Governer proved himself as an enemy of the worker.
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*  History: Federation and the Labour Movement
National celebrations will mark the Centenary of Federation next year. The labour movement's opposition to Federation at the referenda held around the Australian colonies in 1899 will attract less commemoration, although the republicans of 1999 might have benefited from reflection on the causes of working class discontent one hundred years earlier says Stuart Macintyre.
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*  International: Unions Mac Their Day
McDonald's - the biggest employer of young people around the world - is increasingly becoming the target of union recognition campaigns, backed by human rights groups concerned about the fast food chains practices in countries such as Indonesia, China, Russia, Canada and Germany.
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*  Satire: Wiranto�s charity album inspires genocidal maniacs everywhere
Indonesia�s favourite former strongman, General Wiranto, has recently decided to record an album of love songs. Entitled To You My Indonesia, Wiranto�s album has already sold 8,000 copies and is raising money for refugees.
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*  Review: What About the Workers?
A big, gruff bloke in a blue singlet, on strike or just not working, and generally being difficult. That's the trade unionist for you. Barry Cohen's new book What About the Workers? shows this image may have a bit of truth about it, but he would be telling a few good yarns while he was standing about.
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News
»  Unions Seek Community Backing For $28 Pay Rise
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»  Retailers Renege On Fairwear Code
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»  Senate Slams State Sector AWAs
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»  TAB Bosses' Gamble Threatens Cup Day
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»  Fijian Workers Fear Economic Meltdown
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»  Outsource or Perish Says Government
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»  Say Sorry, Ministers
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»  Union Women Set The Pace
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»  Toxic Foreign Flag Ship Threatens Reef
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»  Push For 'Casuals' Parental Leave
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»  Joy Counts Cost Of Scabs
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»  White Boys Talk About Black History
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»  Senate Asks ANU To 'Please Explain' Archive Cuts
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Columns
»  Away For The Games
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»  Sport
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Tool Shed
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Letters to the editor
»  Up Front Robber More Honest Than Banks
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»  New Offer For Telephone Users
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»  Earthworkers Unite
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